FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT SUBURBAN OFFICIALS - PAGE 3

Billy Givens got some respect last night -- not a lot, but some. Shunned by many as a nuisance more than a serious candidate, the independent Easton mayoral hopeful took a portion of center stage next to his two high-profile opponents at a debate last night. Sponsored by the Covenant Churches of Downtown, the candidates gave their thoughts regarding the debate's topic, "What is your vision of Easton five years from now?" "I envision a more unified, more cohesive Easton," said Givens, a College Hill resident.

by DOUGLAS MONTERO Of The Morning Call, The Morning Call | September 13, 1989

Easton Mayor Salvatore J. Panto Jr. said yesterday that the city will attempt to get a county judge to approve the Easton Area Joint Sewer Authority's 1990 budget if suburban representatives on the authority delay its approval. Panto made the announcement during an Easton City Council workshop after Councilman David Spadoni expressed his concern over a threat by four suburban officials to delay budget action. "If they vote against it we will go to court and ask for its approval," Panto said.

Easton is no longer considering selling its South Side wastewater treatment plant to the regional sewer authority, deflating an issue that faced hostile opposition, Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said. "City Council was apparently feeling that we were selling something that was Easton's," Panto said. "(The sale) is off the negotiating table now." Actually, the issue never really got off the ground. After two years of on-and-off-again negotiations, Easton and suburban officials announced in October they've reached an "agreement in principle" for the city to relinquish its controversial sewer authority bloc vote.

Easton Mayor Salvatore J. Panto Jr. is recommending a daylong workshop between Easton Area Joint Sewer Authority representatives and officials from its member municipalities to help resolve disputes and sooth relationships. Panto made the suggestion last week to a six-member committee of area businessmen examining the issues that create the municipal discord. The committee was established in October by the Two Rivers Chamber of Commerce (TRACC). The recommendation comes after suburban officials announced plans to continue their attempts to change the authority's voting structure, which is weighted toward Easton.

The suburban municipalities of the Easton Area Joint Sewer Authority were unable to make their first-quarter payments for the operation of Easton's sewage treatment plant because it would have violated the authority's bylaws. Lafayette Trust Bank of Easton refused to accept the suburban municipalities ' money because, under the authority's Intermunicipal Service Agreement, the payments are supposed to go the authority, Ritchey Ricci, the chairman of the Forks Township supervisors, said yesterday.

Easton and suburban officials announced yesterday that they have reached an agreement in principle for the city to relinquish its controversial sewer authority bloc vote. Negotiators also announced they will form a fact-finding committee to study the possible sale of the waste-water treatment plant to the Easton Area Joint Sewer Authority. The announcements, which came at a joint press conference in Forks Township, mark a major breakthrough for the volatile bloc vote issue. Under what was called a "conceptual agreement," Easton would drop its bloc vote, giving an independent voice to West Easton and Wilson.

After nearly three years of sometimes troublesome negotiations, Easton and suburban officials made public last night their final plan on how to resolve the nagging sewer authority bloc vote issue. Each of the five municipalities involved still must approve the proposal formally before it takes effect. The agreement closely resembles one released in October, with one major exception: the total revamping of how the Easton Area Joint Sewer Authority's votes are tallied. The confusing bloc structure has been at the center of repeated bickering between city and suburban officials.

Suburban members of the Easton Area Joint Sewer Authority were asked in March to give Easton $5.3 million in exchange for eliminating the authority's controversial voting system, according to a report released yesterday. Saying the city's proposal "contains all the elements of extortion," the suburban negotiating committee rejected the proposal on May 4, in part because the funds would be used for the renovations of the State Theatre and a building to house the homeless. The city's proposal was made public yesterday in a report issued by the suburbs' negotiating committee, which has been meeting unsuccessfully with Easton officials for the nine months.

Easton would concede its controversial sewer authority bloc vote and suburban officials relinquish any say in how the treatment plant is operated under a tentative proposal by the city's negotiating team. For the first time in nearly nine months, the negotiating team of Councilman William Houston, Council President Al Jones and Mayor Sal Panto Jr. discussed closed-door negotiations in public. The plan, detailed at a City Council meeting last night, would give an independent vote to the four suburban authority members, while Easton would retain its four votes.

The battle over the Easton Area Joint Sewer Authority's voting system, which suburban officials say is unfairly weighted toward the city of Easton, resurfaced yesterday with a new threat to disrupt future budget deliberations. The threat came in a memorandum from member Robert James of Wilson during an authority workshop meeting at Easton's sewage treatment plant. The letter, which was briefly discussed at the meeting, was distributed to members. It served as a grim reminder of last year's budget deadlock.